Lot 2293

Description

Germany, Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Julius, Duke of Brunswick and Luneburg, (1568-1589), silver lichttaler, dated issue 1586, (28.88 g), obv. .M. G.IVLIVS. D. G. D BRV .EL.G.V, helmeted six part arms, rev. around +ALIIS. INSERVIEWNDO.CONSVMOR, wildman with light and stump with divided date, (D.9064). Very fine, scarce.

Ex Alan Jordan Collection.

The coin type was struck 1583-1588. The wildman motif was used on many Brunswick talers of the 16th and 17th centuries, the earliest (dated) being issued by Heinrich the Younger in 1539. The wild man, was a literary and artistic invention of the medieval period. In physical appearance he differed from man mainly in his thick coat of hair, which left only his face, hands, feet - and, with wild women, breasts - bare. Elbows and knees were often exposed. A variant form of the wild man [has] him covered with a thick growth of leafy foliage rather than hair. Thought to live in remote, mountainous, and forested regions, the wild man especially flourished in the wooded or alpine regions of the German-speaking lands.